Stuck Inbetween
by ninalanfer
Summary: In a different world Garrus meets Shepard under different circumstances. Oneshot. Complete.


Another boring gathering with another bunch of boring people. Why he kept going to these things he didn't know, oh yes, his father made him, that's why. Garrus sighed and sipped on the bubbly salarian wine, looking around for someone interesting to talk to, no one in sight. Just as he was considering to leave he was captured by executor Pallin.

"Detective Vakarian," he said and Garrus flinched from the tone in his voice. He either wanted him to do something he wouldn't like or he had already done something the head of C-Sec didn't appreciate. Both of which were plausible. He wasn't exactly known for being on the executor's good side most days.

"Sir," he answered as he walked close and stiffened his back a little further. _Just look and act polite,_ he thought. _It can't be that bad._

"This is captain Jane Shepard." The sand colored turian gestured towards a human woman with red shoulder length hair. "Captain, this is Garrus Vakarian, one of my detectives in C-Sec." She gave him an assertive nod that he returned. "She's looking into the increased flux of illegal goods going in and out of the station, on behalf of the Alliance. You are working on such a case, aren't you, detective? I'm sure we can help a fellow soldier out..." He let his voice drawl out, leaving a vacuum to continue the conversation.

"Yes, of course, Sir," Garrus answered stoically. There was a disliking quality to his boss' eyes as he stepped back and eyed the woman up and down once before leaving. Maybe it wasn't he who had offended the stuck up turian this time. His respect for this new acquaintance rose significantly. He wondered what she had done to piss him off.

"So, talk smuggling with me, detective." Shepard gave him a wide smile.

"Anything in particular you're looking for?" Garrus asked and shifted from one foot to the other. There was something incredibly intense in her green eyes that made him slightly uncomfortable. Like they pulled him in, prodding until he would give her what she wanted.

"Weapons," she told him, straight on. "I know there's a buyer here on the station right now that deal in illegal mods and I want to catch him before he makes his sell."

"You have a name?" Buyers of illegal weapon mods, yup, they got those. Probably a third of the people you bumped into in the lower wards had dealt in weapon smuggling at one point. That didn't give him much to go on.

"What challenge would it be if I had a name?" Her lips tilted sideways and there was a small laugh following her words.

"Hm..."

The more they talked that night the more he liked this human. She was very to the point and energetic, not at all like the slow moving crowd they had around them. Like a magnetic force she had pulled him with her on a long conversation about the intricacies of smuggling and what they had to do to catch the people responsible. She had a mind on her, this woman. When you first saw her or talked to her you got the impression that she was a bit burdus, fast moving and maybe not thinking everything through the whole way before she started. That was not the case. Yes, she was fast paced, yes, she seemed to be honest on the verge of rude, but she always had a thought behind it all. One that you didn't get to know until the very end.

To say that Garrus had never met anyone like her before was an understatement. Maybe there was no one else like her. The thing he liked the most was how she didn't seem to give a pyjaks ass what anyone thought about her. She shocked the salarian councilor when she told him her views about his safety precautions at an upcoming event. Her own ambassador, a sinister looking man named Udina, threw out with his arms, proclaiming something about an outrage after she had whispered a minute in his ear. A captain Anderson of the Alliance Fleet put his hand over his eyes and shook it slowly back and forth before he gave an exhausted sigh. One of the few krogan attending the otherwise stale party hugged her tight, lifting her up from the floor by her shoulders and bellowing out his approval of her backbone.

Garrus really doubted anyone was like Shepard, but he liked her.

Two hours and four glasses of the bubblies in he decided he had done his duty to his father and left the politicians to scheme without him. But it was way too early to head home yet so he aimed his steps towards a nightclub that was located within walking distance from his apartment.

"The usual?" the turian bartender asked him when he dropped down on one of the bar stools.

"Please, and make it a double," Garrus answered.

Ice clinked in the amber liquid and he let his nose fill with the aroma of the brandy before taking a small sip.

"Another high class soiree?" the man on the other side of the bar asked him, eying the formal wear.

"Mhm," Garrus hummed and enjoyed the slow burn in the back of his throat. He put the glass back down and shrugged out of the stiff jacket. At least without it on he looked less like he was about to arrest the people in here. Besides, the shirt he wore underneath showed off the muscles in his arms and the ladies seemed to like that. He wasn't exactly looking for company, not tonight, he had too much work to do in the morning. But he wouldn't say no if someone offered.

"Wish dad would stop dragging me to these things," he complained without any real gusto. He had long since reconciled with the idea that there was nothing he could do about it.

The bartender shrugged.

"Family," he scuffed like that was the only explanation needed.

Garrus lingered at the bar, nursing his drink and watching people come and go. Further into the night the music grew and more and more bodies gathered at the dance-floor. When he was almost all the way through his poison of choice, he glimpsed a familiar red hair in the sway of music marionettes. Could it really be her?

Emptying the drink in a swoop Garrus threw his coat over the counter, promising to pick it up later and dashed out to the floor. Being big had its advantages when you needed to elbow your way through a sea of people and he soon reached her. Shepard was not moving much, mostly swaying her hips to the rhythm of the beat, her back turned to him. Apparently she had taken the time to change before coming here, because now she was wearing a black leather dress that sat slicked against her skin, ending teasingly short on her thighs. Displaying more courage than he felt, or maybe it was the buzz from the alcohol that drove him, he moved in against her. The fabric of his shirt shifted slightly when it touched her second skin, her hair tickled his mandible. Under the usual stench of an active nightclub he found a fresh scent of flowers in the red mess.

Shepard didn't turn around, or even glanced at him, simply danced on, but adjusted her movements to fit against him. This had been an impulsive and stupid idea, but now it was done and moving away would only bruise his ego. Garrus was usually smooth with the ladies, but those were turians. He had never found a human woman attractive before and still didn't exactly. It was just that this was Shepard and he had to admit to himself that he found her more than a little interesting.

His heart started to beat faster and he could hear it over the loud music in his ears. His body was reacting very positively to how her round buttock felt against him, or how the thin straps of black did nothing to hide the pale skin on her slender neck and shoulders. This wasn't the usual way he reacted towards humans. Garrus caught himself fantasize about how she tasted while he moved with her, body to body. Strong muscles in long, magnificent legs playing so close to his own. This dress was most definitively a step up from the boring dress uniform she had worn earlier. When she stretched her back, her waist splayed out just centimeters away, teasing with it's mere presence, Garrus had to touch her. He put his hands on her hips and drew in closer to her ear.

"Hi," he said and couldn't keep the rumble from coming out filled with lust. Thank all the Spirits that humans couldn't hear all the frequencies of the turian second vocals. A woman of his own species would probably, preferably, taken his hand and pulled him into a dark corner if she had heard him now. Worst case he would have gotten a knee up his gut. That had happened too on occasion, but he was really more a fan of the first scenario. Why he was so bold now he didn't know. Maybe he was more inebriated than he thought. Possibly not only from the alcohol, but from her scent as well, it was truly intoxicating.

Shepard tensed under his fingers, turning her head and peering at him from the corner of her eye. She looked a little shocked to see him. For whatever reason, it filled Garrus with a sort of smug pride to have managed to rattle her.

"Detective," she said and turned around in his grip.

"Please, it's just Garrus to you, at least as long as I have my hands on your ass," he answered with a wide grin, moving her a fraction closer, her soft rear asking to be squeezed in his grip. He resisted.

The sly smirk that entered the round face confirmed his suspicions that she would react well to his forward maneuvers. Pale arms reached up and thin fingers splayed against his neck. They were cold, soft and very pleasant against his sensitive hide. Repressing a shiver he continued moving with her, their bodies just touching in the slightest. Not enough to really feel anything, but to at the same time sense the proximity.

"So I take it the posh high rise isn't really your cup of tea?" she asked.

It took him a moment to understand what she was getting at, his mind far away from earlier tonight.

"Not really my scene, no," he answered.

"Mine neither."

Garrus tilted his head inquisitively.

"What is your scene?" he asked.

"Anywhere that..." Shepard said slowly, taking one of his hands in hers and guiding it down to the hem of her dress. When she slowly moved it up and under, his fingers gracing along her inner thigh, his throat grew thick and his breathing came to a stop. "... Allows me to use this." Her breath tickled the skin under his mandible. They fluttered nervously and one of them came in contact with her cheek. It was incredibly soft. What was she doing? Hot as it may be, Garrus was pretty sure people would object if...

That's when he felt the tip of something metal. Fingers exploring further and he soon recognized the familiar shape of a gun.

"You're armed." Now it was his time to look shocked, mandibles dropped and splayed wide.

"I never leave home without it," she grinned, sounding very pleased with herself.

"But... How... hrm... How does it even fit?" he asked, flummoxed.

"I'll never tell." Shepard fluttered her eyelashes in an exaggerated flirty look.

"Is this guy bothering you?" A strong hand landed on Garrus' shoulder, pulling him suddenly away from the entrancing woman.

He turned to see three human men, all looking menacing and ready to dole out some punishment.

"The hell..." Garrus cursed. "No! I wasn't..."

"I wasn't asking you!" The first human, a man with broad shoulders and a black shirt pushed him back. Obviously fishing for a rise out of him.

"Come on, guys! He wasn't bothering me." Shepard sounded more than a little irritated.

"It's okay lady," one of the other goons said, putting a comforting hand on her naked shoulder. His long, thin fingers splayed out against her skin and Garrus couldn't hold back the anger that filled his chest. "You don't have to defend this jerk. We saw what he was doing."

"What the hell is your problem?" Garrus growled, his lower harmonics vibrating with all the bad things he was about to unleash on these punks. Starting to take a step towards his friend, the first human got in his way and up in his face.

"You are my problem!" he spat out, pushing against his shoulder again. "You and every other damn alien who assault our women."

Oh, fucking amazing, this was a racist thing.

Before Garrus had time to answer, preferably with a fist to the guy's stupid face, a deep voice intervened.

"Is there a problem here?" The krogan bouncer looked from one to the next, a harsh scowl on his plated face.

"Yeah, this guy is bothering this woman, we just stepped in before it got out of hand," the first human said.

"He wasn't bothering me!" Shepard exclaimed. "For fuck's sake! You guys are just a bunch of xenophobic dweebs!"

Garrus could see how the krogan sighed on the inside. Racist shit was always a pain in the ass.

"I don't care," he said in his dark rumbling tone. "You're disturbing the other guests, if you want to fight, take it outside." He nodded pointedly at the door, then lingered, hovering over them with a threatening stare so they would move. He herded them outside, the humans going first and Garrus following grumpily. Just his damn luck.

When the door swooshed shut and he turned to face their tormentors he was met with a fist to the face. On a normal day he would have caught it, would have dodged out of the way and retaliated. But he was drunk, and more than a little tired from his earlier work. The knuckles impacted just below his brow, the protective plating around it keeping the eye from taking the blast. Pain still shot out through his face and up his nose, the taste of metal spreading in the back of his mouth. The only thing he had to comfort him was how the guy was cursing loudly and holding his fist on his hand. Punching a turian in the face could not have been his brightest idea ever.

"Fucking alien trash!" one of his friends yelled, going for the gun at his hip.

Before Garrus had the time to react Shepard had grabbed the guy's wrist, twisted it up behind his back. He bent with a cry of pain and tensed up when he felt the barrel of a gun at the back of his head.

"You bitch!" The first human went for his own gun, the idiot that he was.

The sound of a loading clip filled the alley.

"Don't even..." Garrus shook his head twice, finding the guy in his crosshairs.

The third man looked terrified. He probably hadn't expected to run into this kind of trouble tonight. He stood there, frozen on the spot, looking for all the world like he was about to wet his pants.

Garrus called his omni-tool to life, never taking his eyes of the man in front of him.

"C-Sec headquarters, how can I help you?" a voice ringed out of it when the connection had been made.

"This is detective Vakarian," Garrus started.

"Garrus!" the voice on the other end said cheerfully. "I thought you had the night off?"

"I did," he gruffed. "But I found a couple of morons who would love to spend a few days in lockup. Can you send someone over?"

"We have a patrol car in the area, it will be there within a few minutes."

"Thanks, Vakarian out." He flipped the orange glow around his wrist off.

"Fucking hell, man! He's a cop!" The guy held down by Shepard whined. "You punched a cop!"

There were days when Garrus liked his job. Like now, when the backup arrived and he got to cuff the one responsible for his bruised eye. He pushed him roughly into the backseat of the police car before turning around towards his co-workers.

"Thanks," he said.

"No problem man," the human in blue assured him. "Always happy to help." He grinned. "You coming with us to HQ?"

"Yeah I..." Garrus hesitated and looked over towards the red head who had helped him tonight. "Just give me a minute."

Shepard scooted over to where they stood, one hand holding onto her other upper arm, framing in her cleavage. Her hip jutted out and he could tell how she tried to look comfortable, but the slight crease in her forehead told him otherwise.

"So... I should really take care of this," Garrus said, feeling just as uncomfortable as she. This was not the way he had wanted to evening to go. "But..." He lingered. Not actually wanting to leave, even though he knew he must. He wanted to spend more time with her, get to know her. This was awkward as all hell, but screw it, if he didn't ask he'd never get a chance to again. "... hrm... maybe you would like to meet for drinks or something? Tomorrow? Or if you're busy..."

Her face smoothed out and his stomach fluttered when her lips formed in a small smile.

"I'm leaving the station tomorrow, following this trail on the case I'm working on," she said and Garrus felt his stomach sink again. "But... uhm..." She bit her lower lip and his eyes drew to her white, blunt teeth and how her flesh blossomed even redder around them. It was utterly distracting. "You know what? Here." Her omnitool lit up and she tapped a few commands. "I'm sending you my personal contact information."

"Great," Garrus said as he heard his own 'tool ping with the incoming message.

She laughed and he couldn't help but smile wide.

"Text me? Okay." Shepard nodded and backed away from them.

Garrus raised his hand in an awkward wave and had to force himself to turn around and get into the car by the curb. As he flopped down next to his fellow police officers one of them looked back towards were Shepard was retreating.

"Damn, that's one fine woman. I didn't know you were into humans, Vakarian," he said with a short laugh.

Garrus turned so he could watch the red head disappear down the street as the car took off.

"Neither did I..." he mused.

To get home that night was heaven. He was so tired from everything that had happened. Limbs feeling like lead as he moved through his small apartment. Not even bothering to turn on the lights, he maneuvered with used precision past the bureau by the door, around the corner, dodging the laundry basket and into the bathroom. He kept the lights on half power as he stepped out of his uniform, putting up a mental note to go get his jacket back tomorrow. The hot water stung and made his skin tingle, slowly softening his plates, feeling all the tension of the day drain out of his shoulders. Everything from a busted operation to having to smile politely through his teeth to politicians and deal with racist bastards. Spirits, had it been an eventful day.

But Shepard. There was something he would never regret about today. He got to meet Shepard. The woman was life-force incarnate. She breathed self confidence, never missing a beat, be it in a conversation or a fight. The way she had handled that goon before...

Garrus felt his plates shift. The water slithering down his body and getting caught in the crevice that formed. A full, blown out shiver ran through his body when the warm water touched the sensitive skin beneath. Spirits! The look of determination on her face. The strength in her shoulder muscles that played under that almost translucent skin as she held him down. The rumble started on it's own accord deep in Garrus' chest.

The white tile of the shower wall felt cold against his forehead as he rested his weight against it. Two gray hands hesitated on their way to his waist. Was he really going to do this? He wanted to. Just the thought of the woman had his plates shifting for spirits' sake. But it felt kind of weird to have her in his hot fantasies. He had just met her. What would she have thought if she knew he was about to...

The water sputtered from his mouth when he laughed quietly to himself. If today was any indication she would have raised a skeptical eyebrow and teased him mercilessly about it. Garrus liked to think she wouldn't object to being the star in his mind's eye. He rejected the though that she would be grossed out about it. Shepard had seemed inclined enough on the dance-floor, her arms entangled around his neck, her thin fingers playing against his hide.

The memory of her light, cool touch was what made up his mind. There was something about the way she looked so fragile but daredevil assertive about herself that made him unable to let go of the thought of her. Breathing through clenched teeth, the water on his mandibles vibrating as it fell, the gray turian caressed his own waist, just below the ribs. It was always a sure card to get started. Tracing the outlines of the small and soft scales covering it he worked his way down, the tickling sensation slowly intensifying as he neared his pubic plates. There he stopped. Tracing the outer contours and running fingers down between his legs, along the joint of his hip and thigh. Up again with one hand to cup himself, teasing the crack in his plates with the heel of his palm.

A low groan bounced from one wall to the next, drowned out by the sound of the water pattering down on his back. Taking just the one finger he dipped the top into the soft folds between his legs. Feeling how they stretched as he parted all the way and how a light roll of hips made a head of blue peek out between them.

Garrus imagined it was her finger that gently stroked over the tip, thumb and forefinger tracing around the base of the silken phallus. His hips rocked on their own accord, his internal muscles clenching, a mental image of himself emerging into her waiting hand having him tremble with pent-up need. Oh crap... What would her fingers feel like when they closed over him, fully emerged? Did she also have callouses on her hands from holding a gun all day? She was with Alliance so she probably saw a good deal of action. Was her fingers strong and secure from working out on the field? Would her index-finger be controlled just as when she squeezed the trigger on her gun? Like she would run it over his giving ridges? How many enemies had she killed with those hands?

A full out throaty moan left him and he quickened his pacing, running a tight fist up and down. Letting the conjunction of the thumb catch in every valley along his length. _Fuck_, she would look sexy on the battlefield. Hair blazing in the lights from firing energy-weapons. Her spirit large as she led her men towards victory, and after... would she be high on the kick of combat? Her hands gripping his armor as she pulled him close.

They could hurry to get undressed and he would taste her neck, blackened by soot and sweat. Garrus bet she tasted wonderful, and she would crane it for him to bite down, to really taste her, to have her. He'd worry her skin with his teeth as he pushed her up a wall.

His hips were moving on their own accord, his eyes closed to loose himself in the vision of her closeness. Pumping into his own fist. Oh, how he wished it was Shepard who was quickly jacking him off in this moment. He'd show her a thing or two. Maybe make her scream. Was she a screamer? Or was she a quiet lover? Garrus couldn't wait to find out. Maybe next time he met her he could get to kiss her?

He keened against the surging longing that welled up in his chest. How would her lips feel against his own? He had never kissed a human before. They looked soft, malleable. He'd have to be careful so he didn't nick her with his teeth, not that they were particularly sharp, but next to a human's they were certainly predatory.

Thumbing his head he thought about how she could use those lips. The fire in his gut roared, a monster about to charge out of it's lair.

"_Fuckfuckfuckfuck_," he mouthed as flashes of heat and tingling white sparks shot up from his groin. He was so close. Just a little more and...

The image of her tense body, laid out before him on crumbled sheets, back arching, head thrown back, his name on her lips was what made him tip over. He bit back the roar that filled his throat as he felt himself expand further and twitch in his grip. Hips cramping still he stroked himself a few last hard times, exploding out and onto the bathroom wall.

Garrus head was spinning, he drew in a greedy breath of air and saw his own fluids sluice down the drain. Hell that was intense. Turning, he rested his back against the wall, his conscience coming back to him now that his mind was less filled with lecherousness wants. Guilt was quickly filling up to the brim, for having used her like that. Shepard didn't deserve some pervy turian to turn her into a sex object. She was worth so much more. Garrus didn't even know if she was interested, not in that way. Maybe she just wanted to be his friend?

Groaning for himself he hurriedly washed off and promised that he'd make it up to her, somehow.

He was still dripping somewhat when he opened the door out to his bedroom, the drops giving their 'top, top, top' to backup the sound of talons clicking on the floor. The towel ended up over the back of the desk chair. The steam from the bathroom warming up the otherwise kind of cold room. Just as Garrus dropped down into bed, his omni-tool pinged with an incoming message.

When he saw the caller-ID reading: Cap. J. Shepard, his heart gave the surrounding ribcage one violent thrust.

Garrus Vakarian (Location: Citadel)

Jane Shepard (Location: Normandy SR-2)

01:12: S: Hey! Sry if this is super late, I just wondered how things went after u left.

01:14: V: That's okay, I was awake. It went good, they got to share the cell with our favorite regular.

01:15: S: Oh?

01:18: V: Right... I should explain. He's an elcor who parties a bit too hard (read much) during the weekends. He snores.

01:20: S: Less sleep for them then. Good.

01:21: S: I don't... Just so u know, in case you were, idk, curious. They're stupid. Being all with the anti-turian thing. I don't... u know... care.

Garrus smiled for himself in the dark. He had figured she didn't, but it was still nice to be assured. But what did you answer to something like that? Being who he was, Garrus opted to deflect with a joke.

01:24: V: Good, wouldn't want to throw you into the cell with them. Dear old Satark couldn't take all the excitement.

01:25: S: You wouldn't!

He chuckled for himself.

01:26: V: Maybe not.

Right about there his mind went somewhere dirty. _Depends on what I'd get if I don't._ He huffed and shuffled further back into bed. Hadn't all that been spent in the shower? Apparently not. _Come on Garrus, get a grip._

01:27: S: omg you're such a sweetie.

Then again being called a sweetie wasn't much better in his book.

01:29: V: Sweetie? Really? I always thought of myself more like a badass.

01:30: S: lol! Yeah, sure, let's go with that then.

There was a pause where Garrus didn't know what to answer. He wanted to keep talking to her but what should he say?

01:35: S: … I have a confession to make.

01:36: V: I'm waiting.

01:37: S: I can't sleep.

That made him guffaw out loud.

01:38: V: I can see that.

01:39: S: Sry if I'm bothering you, I know it's late.

01:40: V: No! Not at all. I can't sleep either.

01:41: S: Good! I mean... Not good good. But purely ego, for me, it's good. Entertain me sir!

Garrus had to reel his mind back from dirty places again.

01:42: V: Entertain you... Hm... Lets see...

That night he spent way too much time chatting with her. There was to be an early shift the next morning, but he didn't seem to be able to shut the program down and to get some sleep. He knew he should. There just was this small part of him that wanted to savor every chance he had at getting to know her.


End file.
